MANY Heritage Open Days events are already under way in Coventry and Warwickshire - but they get into full swing tomorrow and Sunday.

People are being invited to view old buildings and take part in events which celebrate our history and culture. Events include:

The Walled Garden Group of Allesley Park in Coventry will be offering a line-up of family activities at their venue tomorrow and Sunday.

One of the highlights will be a children's cookery competition judged by local chef Luciano Catalinotto.

Maureen Harris, secretary of the Allesley Park Walled Garden, said: "The Walled Garden Group's Heritage Weekend activities this year celebrate food from around the world with quizzes about where common foods like peppers, tomatoes and carrots originally came from, tasters of great recipes, unusual fruit and fresh stir fries.

"We want to encourage people of all ages to grow food, cook food and enjoy the great flavour of good food.

Other activities will be a garden market tomorrow morning, from 10.30am until 12.30pm, with the sale of heritage vegetables.

Activities for all ages tomorrow afternoon, from 2pm until 4pm, include making a face out of salad ingredients, potato and spice quizzes, guessing games, fruit tasting, displays and guided tours of the garden.

* Members of Coventry Family History Society will be holding their annual fair at the city's Transport Museum tomorrow and Sunday.

Between 10am and 5pm visitors will be able to find out about tracing their family trees, study old photographs or use the computers to try research on michrofiche records.

* St Mary Magdalene Church in Wyken Croft, Coventry's oldest surviving building, will be open from 10am until 4pm on both days and refreshments will be available from 10am in Risen Christ church hall, which is next door to St Mary Magdalene.

Light lunch will also be served in Risen Christ tomorrow from noon until 2pm and from 2pm to 4pm there will be a 'Pudding Tasting' experience.

* Hawkesbury Junction will come alive tomorrow and Sunday with visitors able to take advantage of free activities including plate painting and learning about the heritage of the Coventry Canal.

The event is being supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund and Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council Heritage Forum.

There will also be an exhibition of work by pupils from local primary schools, who have taken part in a programme run by Groundwork Coventry and Warwickshire.